J. Michael Luttig
Encyclopedia : J : JM : JMI : J. Michael Luttig
J. Michael Luttig (born in Tyler, Texas, June 13, 1954) is an American lawyer who served for 15 years as a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. He was appointed to a newly created seat by President George H. W. Bush on April 23, 1991, and confirmed by the United States Senate on July 26, 1991. He resigned on May 10, 2006 to become General Counsel for The Boeing Company. His resignation is thought to be due to a sense of betrayal over the Bush administration's handling of the Jose Padilla case, in which he played a major role in determining his "enemy combatant" status.
Luttig graduated from Washington and Lee University in 1976 before receiving his Juris Doctor from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1981. He briefly worked in the Reagan White House before doing a couple of clerkships, the first one being for then-Judge Antonin Scalia of the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit from 1982-1983, and the second for then-Chief Justice Warren Burger from 1983-1984. Luttig continued to work for Burger as a special assistant to the Chief Justice until 1985, when he went into private practice. In 1989, Luttig returned to government service, holding different positions within the Department of Justice until his appointment to the Court of Appeals in 1991.
His father, John Luttig, was fatally shot in 1994 in a carjacking by juvenile offender Napoleon Beazley. Beazley was later executed in a controversial case which reached up to the Supreme Court twice. The first time, the vote was split 3-3, with three justices recusing themselves. Justice Antonin Scalia recused himself because Luttig had clerked for him, and Justices David Souter and Clarence Thomas recused themselves from the decision because Luttig led the George H. W. Bush Administration's efforts to gain the Senate's confirmation for them. The Court subsequently ruled 6-0 against a petition by Beazley, paving the way for his execution.
Luttig was mentioned frequently as being near the top of George W. Bush's list of potential nominees to the Supreme Court of the United States to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. However, Bush first decided to nominate John Roberts (who later was renominated for the Chief Justice position), and then nominated Harriet Miers. When the Miers nomination was withdrawn on October 27, 2005, speculation regarding a Luttig nomination was refueled. However, President Bush instead chose to nominate Samuel Alito.
Luttig was the leading "feeder" judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals, with all but two of his law clerks over the last 10 years of his tenure having gone on to clerk with conservative justices on the Supreme Court of the United States. Luttig's clerks have nicknamed themselves "Luttigators".
Resignation from the judiciary
Washington Post -- Appeals Court Judge Leaves Life Appointment for Boeing -- "J. Michael Luttig, the federal appeals court judge who was on President Bush's short list for the Supreme Court but recently clashed with the administration over a terrorism case, resigned from the bench yesterday to become senior vice president and general counsel at the Boeing Co. In a letter to Bush, Luttig said he was leaving the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit because of the "sheer serendipity" of the chance to work for the nation's largest aerospace company. He said Boeing approached him several weeks ago and that he and his wife decided "that this is a singular opportunity that we cannot forgo.". . . " [link]
The Seattle Times: Business & Technology: Appeals judge to join Boeing as counsel -- "The announcement stunned conservatives who agreed with Luttig's judicial philosophy and others because it is rare for a federal judge to leave a lifetime appointment to the bench. "Much more often, people are moving in the other direction, from private industry or private practice or government jobs to the judiciary," said John Douglass, a law professor at the University of Richmond and an expert on the Richmond-based 4th Circuit." [link]
Some commentators believe the resignation was related to Judge Luttig's reaction to the Bush Administration's handling of the Jose Padilla case. [The Wall Street Journal analysis by Jess Bravin and J. Lynn Lunsford]
See also
References
}External links
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.